August Activity
The layout underwent some changes over August. Millicent has been renovated to bring the track out from under Heywood. Dry Creek Yard has had the track work completed and some kinks and alignments have been improved.
On the scenery front, not much, started to work on grounds cover and trees in Snuggery, started the building the landforms around tunnel portals and the support structure for a tunnel portal at the west end of the VR trestle over the Glenelg River Valley near Dartmoor.
I have started the design work to convert the SW8 Switcher I bought in Melbourne to an ‘kinda’ SAR 500 class loco to switcher for Blue Lake Yard. First couple of bodies off the printer give me hope it will pass the 18 inch test. I also got my Green Long-Tom Brake Van running, all I need now is to get the 520 up and going and I can run an ARHS Special out of Adelaide.
I acquired a SAR FClass loco from Orient Express which now hauls a train to Murray Bridge and back. After returning it for a service it runs pretty smoothly, But it is precious, any little kink or flaw in trackwork and it will just stop and chug away on the spot. Great for track fault finding.
Ops
The Wednesday AM Group, Geoff T, Steve W and Michael R gathered last week to put the layout through its paces prior to the larger Operational group who came this week. We identified a number of failures that needed to be fixed before the main event, but we had some fun in the process.
The Northern Clan gathered for another Operating Session at the GSD at 10.30am on the 20th. Coffee and cake to start proceedings and update on changes to the layout since the last visit in June. Steve was an apology due to having a wog, so the crew became:
Dispatcher : Geoff T
Blue Lake Yardmaster : Ray B
Operators: Geoff M, Ron S and David O.
Troubleshooter: The Commish
Due to the amount of work I had done on the electrics, after April’s problems, I was not confident enough to run a Fast Clock Timetable as planned, so we ran a sequence based on the ops of the Tuesday AM program, with a Fast Clock running alongside. We logged all the operators phones onto the internal network, connected to the system. The program started well with the two Fast Jet freights passing through Blue Lake for their loco changes. Followed by 901, the Express Goods from Mile End hauled by 932. So far so good. I started to relax. Operators seem to be all over the brief. Trains continued to run smoothly, Geoff M pointed out a few administration improvements I could make to my Train Control Sheet, Point 54 in Heywood (a Cobalt) played up but that seem to be the only hassles.
The main sticking point though, was a major construction issue that rendered two of the Operators into a wild state of confusion. It seems some switches on my control panels are upside down, apparently. It seems, if I understand the complaint properly, you have to have the switch oriented such that down is 'Closed" and up is 'Thrown", or is it the other way around? They also want LED to show which track is aligned, oh and those switches that are controlled by the Dispatcher should also have a mimic switch on the panel so they can throw it at their leisure. Both first world problems. I reminded them the panels are only temporary and the Board of Management will put their recommendations to their next meeting.
The layout exceeded my expectations to the extent I am happy to go back to a Timetable for the Tuesday PM session next month. I was also happy that all embraced the mobile technology willingly and today it delivered.
Some Pics of the day
